Category Archives: Dessert
Pumpkin Bread with Cranberries
Lets do a pumpkin week- here is the first one.
- 1¼ cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon powdered cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
- 1 cup turbinado sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ extra light olive oil
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a medium bowl, set aside. Lightly brush a 9X5X3 inches loaf pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add one egg at a time mixing in between. Add 1 cup pumpkin puree and orange zest and mix for about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the cranberries and transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes before taking it out. Cool completely before serving.
4th Of July Dessert: Vanilla Coconut Panna Cotta with Mango Lime Sauce
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- 1 packet unflavored gelatin powder
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1 cup evaporated cane sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, sliced length-wise and seeds taken out
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 (8 oz) ramekins
In a small bowl dissolve the gelatin in the cold water. Keep aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the yogurt, coconut milk, vanilla extract and seeds from vanilla bean.
In a heavy saucepan, heat the cream and sugar on medium heat until just simmering. Remove from heat and add the gelatin mixture. Add the cream mixture into the cold yogurt mixture.
Pour into the ramekins and chill thoroughly- at least 6 hours if not over night. Dip bottoms of cups into hot water and invert into a serving plate. Serve with mango lime sauce.
Mango Lime Sauce
- ½ cup mango pulp
- 2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice
- Juice of ½ lime (1 tablespoon)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 mint leaves
Combine mango pulp and sugar in a small saucepan. Add the mint leaves and heat over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes and turn the heat off. Add the vanilla extract and lime juice. Take the mint leaves once the sauce is cool. Serve with the panna cotta.
Wild Blueberry and Lemon Tea Bread
- 1½ all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 cup evaporated cane juice (sugar)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 large eggs
- Juice of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup frozen wild blueberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Whisk briefly and set aside.
In a mixer, add the sugar and olive oil. Mix for 2 to 3 minutes. Add one egg at a time, mixing in between. Add the lemon juice, vanilla extract and milk. Mix for 2 to 3 minutes till all ingredients are incorporated. Add the blueberries and mix. Add the dry ingredients and mix with the egg mixture, incorporating well. Add to the loaf pan and bake in the oven for approximately an hour or till the center comes out clean. Let cool and serve.
Pumpkin Gelato
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup evaporated cane juice (sugar)
- ½ vanilla bean, split in half
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons whole milk to mix in the cornstarch
Ice cream maker
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, vanilla bean, ground cloves and cinnamon stick on medium heat. Once bubbles begin to form on the edges, add the cornstarch mixed in with 2 tablespoons milk. Cook till the mixture begins to thicken, about 2-3 minutes and forms a custard consistency. Add ½ cup pumpkin puree and mix well. Remove from the heat. Strain and refrigerate overnight or at least 2 hours.
Pour the chilled mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions. Freeze the gelato for at least an hour once it is done.
Pear and Ginger Crumble
Topping
- ¾ cup white whole-wheat flour
- 2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ½ inch squares
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an ovenproof dish that is approximately 13 X 9. Mix the seven ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the butter and rub in with fingers until moist clumps form. Keep aside.
- 2 pounds ripe yet firm pears, peeled, cored and sliced thin
- Juice of one lemon
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Toss the pears with the lemon juice, sugar and flour. Transfer the filling to the ovenproof dish. Sprinkle topping over. Bake the crumble until pears are tender and the topping is golden brown- about 40 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream.
Gluten Free Apple Cake
- ½ cup melted coconut oil
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cups coconut sugar
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large apples, peeled cored and diced
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Grease a 9 inch spring form pan with melted coconut oil.
Beat the coconut oil and eggs in a mixer till fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the coconut sugar and beat for another minute. Add the almond flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla extract and salt. Mix well and fold in the diced apples. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes.
Apple Galette
I baked this delicious dessert using the Food and Wine recipe by Jacques Pepin. It’s an incredible recipe and everyone loved it. I did tweak it a bit- I added the heavy cream and turbinado sugar. I also used an amazing apple pie spice from raw spice bar. This apple pie spice mix is delicious, it included green cardamom, grains of paradise and rosemary. The flavor was incredible- I would highly recommend this spice store online.
Pastry
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/3 cup ice water
In a food processor, combine the flour with the sugar, salt and butter and process for 5 seconds. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture and process until pastry just begins to come together and forms a ball- about 15 to 20 seconds. Transfer the pastry to a work surface, form into a disk and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled.
- 3 large golden delicious apples
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoons apple pie spices
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
Peel, halve and core the apples and slice them crosswise ¼ inch thick. Set aside the larger center slices and coarsely chop the end slices and any broken ones- about half of the slices should be chopped. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and apple pie spices.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. On a lightly floured work surface roll out the pastry to a 12-inch round circle and transfer to a large lined rimmed baking sheet. Spread the chopped apples over the pastry to within 1 inch of the edge. Drizzle the honey over the chopped apples. Decoratively arrange the apples slices on top in concentric circles or in slightly overlapping rows. Sprinkle the spiced sugar evenly over the apples and dot with pieces of butter. Fold the pastry edge up and over the apples to create a 1-inch border. Spread the heavy cream over the folded pastry with a pastry brush evenly. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the cream.
Bake the galette for about 50 minutes or till the pastry is nice browned and crisp and the apples are tender. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the galette cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Whip the mascarpone cheese, whipping cream, sugar and vanilla extract till stiff peaks are formed. Refrigerate till serving with the galette.
